Tennis great Serena Williams narrates a Nike ad featuring female athletes performing despite double standards that judge them more harshly than their male counterparts.
Created by Portland-based ad agency Wieden + Kennedy, the 90-second spot was officially debuted during last night’s Academy Awards. Athletes featured in the ad include Williams, WNBA player Lisa Leslie, Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad,Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim, professional soccer players Olivia Moultrie and Alex Morgan, San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon, skateboarder Sky Brown, boxer Sky Brown and boxer Chantel Navarro.
The ad is a follow-up to Nike’s September 2018 Colin Kaepernick ad, titled “Dream Crazy.”
A veritable response to the uproar over Serena’s controversial U.S. Open loss in September 2018, Williams state, “If we show emotion, we’re dramatic. If we want to play against men, we’re nuts. And if we dream of equal opportunity, delusional. When we stand for something, we’re unhinged. When we’re too good, there’s something wrong with us. And if we get angry, we’re hysterical or irrational or just being crazy.”
She goes on to list women in sports who have broken barriers and were called crazy for doing so and referencing herself, she states, “Or winning 23 Grand Slams, having a baby and then coming back for more? Crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy and crazy. So if they want to call you crazy? Fine, show them what crazy can do.”
Check out the visual below.
